Kairos,

a Greek word meaning "when all things come together." These are moments that transcend time, stirring emotions and realities to cause decisive action. These are moments that alter destiny.

We live in a polluted, corrupt world. The fall has caused much pain, hurt and agony. But God had a dream of a different world. He told Abraham that he would bless him, make his name great and bless all the nations through him. But it wasn't too long before the people of God were under the thumb of a wicked dictator - one of the Pharaoh's of Egypt. By God's power and with Moses' leadership, the people of God were finally set free. At times the people of God started living for themselves, so God would send prophets to call them back to himself and his mission. But the prophets failed, the judges failed and the kings failed as well. Then for 400 years there was silence from heaven. It seemed as if nothing would ever change. Had God given up?

Something New

But then God broke the silence with a voice shouting in the wilderness, announcing the coming of a king. And in a kairos moment, God put on flesh and bones and his kingdom invaded our polluted world in ways beyond our understanding. Jesus began a radical revolution. He called out people to follow him in the ways of God. He then trained his followers to partner with him in order to bring shalom to this world. He came to recreate what was lost at the fall. Through his life (and eventually His death,) a new people was formed. They were a family created by the spirit of God who became reborn through his own blood. They were people who, in turn, would begin new communities who would follow in his footsteps.

Two thousand years later, we have become a part of this family and God's plan for our planet. We have been called by God to partner with him to expand his kingdom. As we look at the words that God breathed through Paul and some of the apostles, we learn that our adventure is about creating new communities where God reigns supreme. We learn that God has empowered us to start "faith communities" all over the world, in order that people can experience healing, wholeness and true life.

It is with this story in mind that the dream of Kairos was birthed. Kairos Los Angeles is simply part of a larger story that has been going on for thousands of years. The summer of 2002 JR Woodward, Joe and Lisa Racek and a handful of people moved out to Los Angeles to begin to lay a foundation for a fresh work of God. We live with the dream of starting many multi-ethnic, multi-class and multi-generational communities of faith and we have begun to live it out.

What We're Doing

Each day our dream is becoming more and more a reality. With the help of God we have started many canvas groups, which bring a sense of wholeness, connection, adventure and inspiration to people’s lives and the life of the neighborhood. We began our first public neighborhood gathering in East Hollywood September 7, 2003. We started our second church in West LA in November of 2007, which meets in Santa Monica. We do a number of things with the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, to try and bring renewal to our neighborhood. We host live music at the Fountain Room regularly, where we combine an appreciation of art with a social justice cause. We are helping with student after school programs, helping the poor in the neighborhood in various ways as well helping with international justice causes like Invisible Children and The Unembraced – a ministry working with orphanages in the Turkana region of Kenya, and the Solis Foundation – helping to start small businesses in Kenya.

Working Toward a New Shalom

Our vision is to bring the presence of Christ to the city of messengers. We want to bring the favor of God to people, neighborhood by neighborhood. We want to carry out our mission in a way that honors those who are made in the very image of God.

We fully realize that this mission will mean a lot of sweat, sacrifice and risk. In fact a couple on our team came within a foot of a bullet just after moving out here. But when we look at what Christ has done for us, we move ahead with great joy.

God has already done some great things and we expect him to continue to work in ways beyond our own abilities, as we give him all that we have and all that we are. Would you consider becoming part of this story as well? The fact is that everyone is a part of the story of God, either as a hero, heroine, or a villain, or just an extra.

The Dream Continues

In the beginning of the book of acts, Luke writes, "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach." Then he goes on to share the story of how the early church continued to live out the dream of God in their day.

As you read the last paragraph in the book of Acts you realize that there is no conclusion. That's because it is still being written today - through you and me. We now have the opportunity and privilege to bring God's healing and wholeness to our villages and cities. This is our time. This is our moment.

This is a Kairos moment - a moment in time which requires action. God has given us an amazing dream, a diverse and growing team, but we still need one thing to see this dream become a reality - your involvement! There are many ways that you can become a part of the story of God.

The time to act is now. This is a Kairos moment.